Detroit Zoo preparing for wild weather with mock drill Wednesday

ROYAL OAK — The Detroit Zoo will prepare for wild weather on Wednesday with police and fire departments conducting a training drill to test everyone’s response to a severe weather event and mass casualties.

Zoo spokesperson Patricia Janeway said the media was alerted in advance because the drill will start with a 911 call and then first responders will be dispatched with lights flashing and sirens sounding.

“We want everyone to know ahead of time that this is a drill,” Janeway said.

The media also has been invited to cover the exercise scheduled for 7:30-9 a.m., but news organizations were asked to keep traffic helicopters from hovering over the 125-acre park straddling Royal Oak and Huntington Woods.

Advertisement

“Low-flying aircraft frightens and stresses the animals and could result in injury or death,” Janeway said in a statement.

The training exercise will involve zoo security, Royal Oak’s police and fire departments, the Huntington Woods Department of Public Safety, and other agencies. They will learn more about what a zoo is to do when the weather isn’t fit for man nor beast to be outdoors.

The first responders will be evaluated for their disaster response plans, communication between organizations, and administering first aid and triage to multiple casualties.

“No animals will be injured or escape in the scenario,” Janeway said.

The Detroit Zoo is the only zoo in the country to be certified “Storm Ready” by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service. The zoo earned the distinction in 2010 after coming up with a plan to keep its 3,300 “residents” and thousands more daily visitors safe from dangerous wind, rain and tornadoes.

The zoo attracts up to 15,000 people on its busiest days, but no matter where guests are, they won’t be far from a building or basement where they can take shelter, zoo officials said in 2010 when they met the Storm Ready criteria.

The zoo also has employees trained as storm watchers and someone is always on duty to give updates to co-workers throughout the park by a mobile radio system. Once alerted to strong winds or storms, the staff will begin directing animals and visitors to safer places.

The plan isn’t detailed from aardvark to zebra, but it is straightforward with directions everyone should follow. Some zoo visitors know the drill. Severe storm warnings were issued during the fundraiser Sunset at the Zoo in 2009 and 2010. The 2,000 attendees took shelter in buildings. Two of the strongest structures at the zoo house the rhinos and giraffes. Visitors can escape wild weather in those buildings without facing wild animals, which have their own secured areas.